


That Which Made You Happy

by Melanie_March



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Emotional Trauma, F/M, Ghost!Lewis, Kitsune!Mystery, Loss of Humanity, Memory Loss, Minor Romance/Reference to Past Relationships, More tags to be added, Other, Platonic Pining, Possible AU, Possible Spoilers (for those who haven't seen Freaking Out), Reference to Possession/Possible Possession, Reference to character death, Vivid nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 05:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6740089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melanie_March/pseuds/Melanie_March
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You don't often recognize what makes you whole and complete until you've lost it. For many, it was Lewis Pepper, and the Mystery Skulls are on a quest to find his body and bring him home. </p><p>Little do they know, they've already found him... he's just not the same as he was before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Ghosts of the Past

_I was weak. Weak-minded and weak-willed._  
  
_It’s hard to recall when I became like that, but I have no doubts that it related in some way to Lewis and Vivi’s dating. It’s not that I was jealous, per-se, but I wanted a connection to the gang, and instead, I found myself pushed aside. I began to wonder if it had always been that way, and if I’d just been too stupid to notice. Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery. Adding “Arthur” to the list didn’t sound natural._  
  
_But I never wanted anyone to die._  
  
The echoes of Lewis’ cries and the phantom of agony in his left arm roused Arthur Kingsmen with a start. He would have sent his laptop skittering into the middle of the road had his grip not tightened on it reflexively.  
  
_Out of all the instincts my nightmares could have given me…_ he sighed and set the device aside before he could bring any accidental harm to it, but not before a quick glance at the time. Three thirty-seven… he’d fallen asleep at around two thirty? No…closer to three. Counting backwards on his fingers, Arthur quickly came to the conclusion that, when compared to the length of time the van had been parked, his catnaps would always be pathetic.  
  
But sleep was sleep. He wasn’t getting any more and he wouldn’t settle for any less. After carefully adjusting Vivi so that she would stay in a semi-fixed postion while he drove—if he tried to move her, she’d put the safety of his fingers in jeopardy—he climbed out of the back and shut the doors.  
  
By the time he had heaved his exhausted body into the driver’s seat, Mystery was waiting for him, peering (undoubtedly) at the bags under his eyes. “Arthur? Are you alright?”  
  
Arthur bit back a cynical chuckle and gave the dog an affectionate pat. “I’ll be okay.”  
  
He chose his words carefully and hoped Mystery wouldn’t notice.  
  
He did. “You’ll be okay. You’re not now?”  
  
A frustrated groan threatened to work its way out of Arthur’s throat, but he held that down, too. “No.” He did not want to have this conversation with a nosy animal. He didn’t want to have it with anyone, but having it with Mystery just seemed to make it ten-times as cringe worthy. “Look, man, I really just want to focus on driving and, y’know… not talk about my problems.”  
  
Mystery rolled his eyes and padded closer to the other. “Yes, well, there are those of us who question your ability to drive on a measly half hour of rest.” He commented. When Arthur turned a glare on him, he had his eyes fixed calmly on the barren patch of dirt in front of them. But he couldn’t protest.  
  
“If by ‘those of us’, you mean ‘everyone present’, then yeah, those types of people exist.” Arthur muttered, even as he turned the key in the ignition. The starter ground obnoxiously for a few seconds. “Come on, baby, don’t do this to me now.” He all but whined, patting the dashboard as he turned the key again. Thankfully, the second time around, the engine sputtered to life, and he exhaled sharply. “I’ll have to take a look at that when we hit the next town. Until Vivi wakes up, could you—” Glancing at Mystery’s paws, then at the open GPS on his phone, Arthur shook his head. “Er… never mind.”  
  
Mystery made a noise that came out as a barking laugh. “No, go on, I’d love to hear the rest of that rather fascinating question.” He teased as Arthur pulled carefully back onto the road.

* * *

An hour seemed like a lifetime with Mystery as a co-pilot. A talking dog came with a downside that no one seemed to consider: the talking part came easy, getting them to shut up was the real trick. Mystery happened to be very articulate, but he was lacking in the ‘filter out the unnecessary comments’ department. It got easier while Vivi was awake, but even that was a double-edged sword.  
  
But he would gladly trade Mystery’s affection for calling her ‘Wivi’ for the endless chatter his tired brain faced currently. Hell, he’d given Mystery breakfast early and face Vivi’s wrath if it meant a few moments of silence.  
  
But the hour came to pass, and Arthur found himself grinning at the sight of the motel parking lot as they rolled in.  
  
“Mystery, wake Vivi up. I’ll go grab us a room.”  
  
“What? Me? You can’t be seri—” SLAM! At least they agreed on one thing: waking Vivi wasn’t their favorite activity. But they both knew that Mystery stood a better chance of escaping unharmed.  
  
As he walked the short distance to the check-in office, Arthur tried to construct a semi-solid course of action. They’d be here for more than one day if the van’s starter was on the fritz and they were running kind of low on money… a local eatery would probably employ them while they stayed, but being paranormal investigators was what brought in the real pay. He’d bet most anything that people would be surprised to hear they made seven to eight hundred dollars per job just ridding the customers of their haunting problems.  
  
However, this was by no means a large town. From the looks of it, one could probably drive from one end to the other in ten minutes. Arthur doubted anyone here was having otherworldly issues, which would prove to be a blessing and a curse.  
After paying for a single bed-room, Arthur returned to the van, keys safely pocketed. “Vivi? You’re awake, right? I got us a room here.” He said as he opened the double doors in the back.  
  
Vivi was sitting up, at least. She looked a little disoriented, but otherwise seemed to be in an okay mood. “Arthur? ‘S like… five A.M.” She said with a yawn and a very cat-like stretch. “Where’re we at?”  
  
“Closest town I could get us to, Viv. Grabbed a room at the local motel. Come on, it’s been a while since you slept on a proper bed.” Arthur offered a warm smile and extended a hand to her.  
  
“What about y—” Vivi’s question was stifled by another yawn as she unfolded herself and crawled out of the van. “You? Did you sleep?”  
  
Arthur groped for an lie, but he didn’t throw one out fast enough to avoid Vivi’s ever-active suspicion. Even tired as she was, her eyes narrowed and she peered carefully at him. Instinctively, he leaned away; even held his hands up, but she followed him. “Arthur… you need a bed more than I do.”  
  
“It’s fine.” The mechanic insisted. He shook his head and spun her around, pushing her towards the room while she was still on brain-dead autopilot. He could function like this; it had been a steady downgrade for almost a year, but Vivi needed rest and she didn’t need to expend any extra energy worrying about him.  
  
Mystery trotted along silently behind them, however, the dog didn’t have to talk for Arthur to understand. Lying to his friends wasn’t doing him any favors, and if it continued on, he wouldn’t just be losing sleep over Lewis…

* * *

Automobiles were simple. No matter the trouble they caused, there was always someone who knew the inner mechanics of the problem, and ultimately, the solution to it as well. In that way, repairing said vehicles was constant, and consistency calmed Arthur.  
  
Living creatures were far from consistent. They changed another’s course of action with an action of their own, and could alter an entire plan within a single moment.  
  
Vivi had always been one such person. Like a bullet, she ricocheted from one idea to the next, letting her emotions guide her through life.  
  
Arthur knew this, he’d seen it in action various times, but he still hadn’t expected her to be quite so… enraged with him at renting a single-bed room.  
  
“Mr. Kingsmen, what kind of game are you playing, exactly?”  
  
“What? Vivi, what are youuUUAAAAH?!” She shoved him unceremoniously onto the bed despite his words of protest and stood in front of him with her hands poised on her hips. While she hadn’t said exactly what she wanted him to do after that, he could guess. Kicking off his shoes and crawling under the covers, he glowered up at her. But she only smiled in return before moving to the other side of the bed to take up the space there.  
  
Whether she wanted to believe it or not, her “help” wasn’t helping. Arthur could barely get any sleep as things stood, but combine that with the fact that Vivi liked to cling… he cared about her, but not enough to be a living body pillow.  
  
He waiting until she was sound asleep, then very cautiously shimmied out of the bed. Replacing his presence with a pillow would do for a bit, but he already knew she wasn’t going to be happy when she woke up.  
  
“She’s going to kick your butt when she wakes up again.”  
  
“Thanks, Mystery.” Arthur sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose to fend off an oncoming headache. “Unfortunately, there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Besides…” he watched Vivi roll over and curl around the pillow. “That’s Lewis’ place.”  
  
“So it does bother you.” The dog stood and stretched lazily. “That she treats you like Lewis… minus the relationship.”  
  
“It bothers me that I’m—” Arthur took a moment to focus on lowering his voice. “It bothers me that I’m his stand in and she doesn’t even know it.”  
  
“Are you really angry at being treated like a replacement?” Mystery asked, gaze meeting Arthur’s. “Or is it the fact that you feel like you don’t deserve that place at her side?”  
  
Arthur’s throat seemed to constrict. He felt sick. He wanted to tell Mystery that wasn’t the case, but it was hard to find his voice in face of an emotion that he knew well but couldn’t name. “That’s… that’s not…”  
  
“I’ve eaten things with more spine than you, Arthur.” Mystery snorted. “Lying to people you care about isn’t just wrong, it’s cowardly.”  
  
Living creatures were far from consistent. They did things that made no sense. They went through and caused emotional distress, sometimes all at once.  
  
Mystery was one such being. One minute, he was on Arthur’s side, and the next, he was confronting him about his darkest secrets. Things that Arthur never wanted to let others see. “I’m not ly—” The word lingered on his tongue. He wanted so badly to finish his sentence. He wanted to close this conversation. But his mind wouldn’t let him.  
  
“Arthur, it’s not your fault.” The words made the blond’s knees threaten to give out. A shudder wracked his body, and he barely held back a sob.  
  
Living creatures were far from consistent. They could experience trauma and show no signs of it for so long, but a single thing could make that change.  
  
Arthur was one such human. A man who committed a sin so great that forgiving himself for it seemed to be an impossible feat. He’d killed his best friend, and it was as though everyone else had moved on. He was alone in his mourning, and so afraid of the way his chest constricted every time he so much as thought of Lewis. He was going to die like this... the pain and fear and overwhelming loneliness would kill him.

* * *

Arthur awoke to the sound of his own broken screaming. His heartbeat thundered in his ears and he was hyperventilating. Dizzy, so fucking DIZZY... and suddenly very sick to his stomach.  
  
Vivi awoke just in time to see him throw his upper body out of the van so that he could empty the contents of his stomach onto the dirt. She sat up and crawled over to him, patting his back gently to show her support. "That's it... let it all out..." this wasn't the first time Arthur had done this, but it had been quite a while since the last occurrence.  
  
“Arthur, it’s okay… shhh… you’re okay…” She promised softly as he came back up. “Nightmare again?”  
  
“It didn’t start out that way…” he mumbled, closing his eyes against another wave of dizziness as he took the water she offered him. A few rinses and he could speak about it properly. “I could have sworn it was… God, it felt so real, Viv…”  
  
“I know it did…” Wrapping her arms around him carefully, Vivi rested her chin atop his fluffy hair. “But nothing's going to hurt you while I'm here.” She soothed.  
  
He bit back a bitter chuckle while she soothed what she thought he'd been having nightmares of. But he wouldn’t tell her the truth. He couldn’t.  
  
_You can't save me from the ghosts of my past, Vivi... they're going to haunt me until the day I die._


	2. We Owe it to Them

_**TWO MONTHS EARLIER…** _

“A trip?” Chloe nearly dropped the books she was shelving. As it was, she set them down with an unceremonious THUD on the empty cart at her side, turning her full attention to Vivi. “When? Where? Why?” And three… two… one… “Can I come along?”  
  
There it was. The dreaded question. “Uh… sorry, Chlo…” Vivi rubbed the back of her head with what she hoped was an apologetic smile. “We’re not going on the usual ghost hunt this time. It’s more of a… Lewis recovery mission, because it’s been so long, you know?”  
  
The excited teen rocked back on her heels, disappointment surely clouding her cloaked face. “Oh… so… I suppose I can’t sit in on this one, then?”  
  
_Or any of them..._ Another attempt at a look of remorse. “Afraid not. It’s a bit more personal than the others, you know? Something that the three of us need to complete on our own.” Chloe waited for a second more, and it seemed as though she was hoping Vivi would change her mind, but, when she didn’t, the cosplaying teen returned to her books without another word. Yikes… as if she needed another reason for Chloe to dislike her. This would have to be patched up, at some point.  
  
“When are you leaving?” Duet asked from the counter, her soft, monotone voice barely audible over the bookstore’s speakers.  
  
“Huh? Oh… sometime between tonight and tomorrow. Arthur said something about the transmission being problematic in the van, so he’s going to let me know. We’re planning on being gone a while, so, do you want to withhold my pay?”  
  
“It’ll be alright. You’ve racked up quite a bit of paid vacation time by working almost every day since the last time.” Duet offered a gentle smile and turned to attend to a customer.  
  
“Van problems? Sounds like an excuse to me.” Chloe huffed absently. “I don’t think Arthur’s all that excited to go with you. After all, it’s been years, hasn’t it? Since everything went downhill for your little group.”  
  
“Not _years_.” Vivi emphasized. “Just—”

* * *

 “—One. One year, since it happened.” Arthur sighed as he adjusted a few things. “Try it now.” His co-worker cranked the key, but the engine failed to even sputter as though it was going to come to life, just like the last few attempts. “Damn it…”  
  
“Why now?” The younger male asked, hopping out of the driver’s seat to go inspect Arthur’s handiwork. “You forgot to tighten that.” He pointed out, and the blond set to work fixing the notable mistake.  
  
“Well…” he said after a moment, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “We owe it to the Peppers. Lewis didn’t have to be blood related for them to love him. After all this time, the one thing we’ve never been able to explain is the fact that his body was just… gone. I think they deserve that closure, at least. Go try it now.”  
  
Thankfully, there wasn’t another failure. The engine started, and Arthur grinned triumphantly. “Thank God, she’s not dead.” He shut the hood and threw his hands up in the air. “Hallelujah, I’m a believer.”  
  
“Watch your smart-assery in my shop.” A light THWACK to the back of Arthur’s head made him flinch and whip around.  
  
“Oh, Uncle.” He sighed in relief. “You startled me.”  
  
“Everything startles you.” Lance responded gruffly, settling on a stool. “So, you’re leavin’ tonight?”  
  
“Yessir.” Arthur mock saluted, dodging another attack via the folder still gripped tightly in his Uncle’s hand. “Okay, okay. But seriously? Yes. The sooner the better.”  
  
After a moment of pondering, Lance sighed. “Do you actually think you’ll find anything worthwhile?”  
  
“Dunno.” Shrugging, Arthur crossed his non-mechanical arm over his body to grip his mechanical one. “In the end, this is more of Vivi’s idea than it is mine. I’m along for the ride—and to make sure the van doesn’t die.” Patting said van’s hood, he smiled. “We’ll turn up something. Even the smallest of things is enough.”  
  
“Well, look who’s turned optimist on us.” Chuckled the older male, shaking his head. “Well… I wish you the best.”  
  
The atmosphere between them dissolved into something quiet and heavy, and the other mechanics thankfully knew enough to just let it be. Arthur was extremely close to his uncle, but the people in the Kingsmen family were never much for goodbyes.  
  
“Arthur! Vivi’s here, and she’s threatening to kick my butt if I don’t get you!” And, the mood was gone. Arthur had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing at the panicked look on his friend’s face, and he put his tools away before heading out into the waiting room.  
  
“How’s our ghost tracker?” She asked the instant she saw him.  
  
“Van’s fine, Viv. Are you all packed up?”  
  
“Just about. Came by to see how you’re doing.” Arthur paused, considering his answer carefully. He didn’t want to worry Vivi, and he didn’t especially feel bad, himself, but there was always that lingering worry in the back of his mind.  
  
“I’m alright. Just… pre-adventure jitters, I suppose.” He said eventually, and then, he got down on one knee to give Mystery’s head a rub. “Hey buddy. You’re all geared up, aren’t you?”  
  
“… yes.” The dog’s response lacked the usual excitement he displayed. Arthur turned a questioning gaze up at his friend, who merely shook her head in response.  
  
“I wouldn’t take him to Petsmart for treats. He’s not too happy with me.”  
  
Arthur made a vague, affirmative sound in the back of his throat as he pushed himself up. “I’ll bring the van around at eight or so. Make sure you get a nap in before then, okay? We’ll go grab pizza or something before we get on the road.” Glancing around the sparsely decorated room decidedly, he inhaled deeply, letting it out in an equally heavy sigh. “I think that’s everything… I’ve just got to get my tools gathered and pack my things. Do you have our route set, Viv?”  
  
“Yes. I’m thinking we follow the same one we took last year. See if we can find any clues before we return to the main site.”  
  
“You sure? That was almost a three month trip, and there won’t be very many money makers going along that route again.” Arthur returned his gaze to her almost nervously. They’d been stranded before, but Lewis had always been there with a plan. But this, this was just them, trying to fill the space where he had been.  
  
“We’ll make it work.” The smile Vivi flashed him was strained, but he noted the optimism that lingered faintly in her eyes all the same. She truly believed they could do this… and even though he generally remained skeptical on principle, Arthur had already determined that he wasn’t going to back out of this. Like he’d already explained, they owed it to the Pepper family.  _He_ owed it to _Lewis_.  
  
“Arthur?” Vivi’s gentle voice pulled him from the confines of his mind, so gentle in contrast to its usual vibrance that it startled him. “We’re heading out now. Are you going to be okay?”  
  
He swallowed down a negative answer and offered a thumbs up to try and comfort her. “Yeah. I’m good. Go on, you go and finish up.”  
  
With no small amount of hesitance in her expression, Vivi nodded and turned away. It was only after she left the shop again that Arthur released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Thank God.  
  
“Hiding things isn’t going to curry favors.” Lance remarked as he appeared from the floor, glancing absently over his charts. “It’s been a year, boy. You need to let it out. The longer you keep it all bottled up, the harder it’ll be to just forgive and move on.”  
  
“I _know_.” Arthur responded bitterly, turning his gaze to the carpet with a scowl. “You sound like my therapist.” He muttered.  
  
“Well, I wouldn’t need to if you actually took some of the advice she offered you.” Arthur huffed out a laugh, though there was no humor in his eyes.  
  
“Her advice isn’t of any help.”  
  
“Then why are you still seeing her?” For a moment, Lance held Arthur’s attention, and the younger male felt vulnerable. All he wanted to do was turn away, to tell his Uncle that there was just no one better, but he knew that lying wouldn’t do any good. They both knew the answer to the question, it hung heavily between them as plain as day, but neither said it out loud. Lance, because he knew it would drive Arthur further from the truth, and Arthur, because he was scared of having the solution so finalized in front of him.  
  
But he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he kept going because he still hoped. Hoped that one day, he would be brave enough to stand up and fix it. Hoped that eventually, the nightmares would end, and he would sleep without Lewis’ shocked, hurt expression lingering in his mind. Hoped that in time, he wouldn’t feel as though he needed to constantly beat himself up over his wrongdoings. He hoped that with each passing session, things would get better.

* * *

“Arthur looks like he hasn’t been sleeping well again, huh Mystery?”  
  
The dog huffed out a sigh and curled tighter into a ball at the end of Vivi’s bed, but his ears remained perked all the same, showing her that he was listening.  
  
“I wonder if this trip is going to be good for him… there are still so many things he won’t tell me about the time I lost my memory. Maybe I shouldn’t push him to go.” But when she had pitched the idea, he had readily agreed, a spark of determination nestled carefully behind the usual reservation. Perhaps, Vivi thought, this could be chalked up to her optimism, but it seemed as though despite whatever internal conflict Arthur experienced, he wanted to go with her. He wanted to do this.  
  
Flopping unceremoniously down on her bed, Vivi let her thoughts wander. Her bags were packed, her lights off, her alarms set… there was nothing to distract her from fruitlessly attempting to fill the gaps in her mind. Nothing, of course, except sleep, which seemed to evade her almost as much as it did Arthur when she thought about Lewis. “I miss him, Mystery… I miss him so much…”  
  
Mystery raised his head at that, crawling over to her and pressing close to her side. He whined, licking her hand before settling down with his head on her stomach. He knew she did. She wasn’t entirely sure to what extent, but she still took comfort in the fact that he knew. It wasn’t exactly something she could talk about around Arthur, or bring up to her boss. She especially didn’t want to go to Lewis’ family and discuss it, seeing as how she had effectively forgotten a lot of things about their son, though that was no fault of her own. As for the rest of the residents in the small, everyone-knows-everyone town, well, their image of her was as skewed as could be, and she felt somewhat isolated in that sense.  
  
Vivi found that her musings drew to a slow close as the sound of Mystery’s breathing and his warmth against her body lulled her into a light doze that would surely turn to a much deeper sleep. And she found, as thoughts drifted absently in and out of her brain, that she didn’t mind, because it was better than succumbing to the aching loneliness that tried to carve a hole in her heart every time she recalled what little she could about Lewis.  
  
No matter how they all attempted to pretend, it wasn’t the same now that he was gone. They’d never gotten their closure, and their hearts had ached too badly to try. But with the last bit of brain power she could summon before consciousness left her, Vivi wished desperately that their trip would change that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this out, I had a lot of internal issues that I had to work out before I did any sort of writing at all. It helps to know that people are still reading it, though, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the prologue. Thanks to everyone who's read it and will continue to stick with me throughout the course of this fic. I promise I haven't given up and will continue to update!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey-o! Thanks for sticking with me, there. That was quite the trippy prologue, even for me. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm glad you decided to check this story out! Looking forward to seeing you when I post chapter one, as well.
> 
> ~Melanie_March


End file.
